David Bowie – The Collection Vol. 2

With the release of 1972’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album, Bowie had achieved the success he had been working towards for the previous decade. 1972 was a busy year for Bowie as he helped to produce Lou Reed’s Transformer album, released John, I’m Only Dancing as a stand-alone single, and donated the song All The Young Dudes to Mott the Hoople. The Ziggy Stardust tour also traversed the world so with that workload, it is not a surprise that the Aladdin Sane album has been notorious down the years for a serious lack of bonus tracks. It would seem that Bowie just didn’t have the time to record anything other than what was necessary, or those songs were all he had. The inclusion of a Rolling Stones cover hints at the direction Bowie would take for his next record. Aladdin Sane is a continuation from the Ziggy Stardust album, as it still has a number of glam elements but combines this with a tougher rock sound. There were even some influences from jazz and cabaret. The majority of the Aladdin Sane tracks are used in the second half of the CD.

Pinups was to follow and only two songs were used from it, the single Sorrow and it’s B-Side Port of Amsterdam. I must admit to finding this album a bit difficult to listen to because in my opinion his covers are not as good as the originals that inspired Bowie. The first half of CD one is taken up by recordings from Diamond Dogs, Bowie’s attempt to adapt the book 1984 before the family of George Orwell refused to sell him the rights. Included is the song Dodo from the Diamond Dogs sessions which was not on the parent album but was performed live in Bowies 1973 variety programme, The 1980 Floor Show. The studio version would not surface until 1990. The demo version of Candidate was used which is not only different musically from the version originally released but also contains different lyrics. The one anomaly (if that is the right word) is a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City, which is believed to have been an outtake from the later Station to Station album. There is some conjecture though that it was recorded for the Diamond Dogs album as Bowie had recorded another Springsteen song in Growin’ Up (also included here) in the same period. It sounds like it should go in Bowie’s glam period so that is where it has been placed.

CD two moves into Bowie’s mid 70s period when he embraced Soul music. Young Americans fully embraced it whilst its follow up did contain some soul elements but also showed hints of the direction he would go in after that. Young Americans was the first time since he had become a star that Bowie had changed musical style so severely. This meant that Bowie did lose a portion of his UK fan base but with the single Fame reaching number one on the US singles charts, he was cementing his status on the other side of the pond. It was also during this period that Bowie developed a serious cocaine habit, the results of which could be seen in the way he looked. This is not called his Thin White Duke period for nothing. Bowie claims that he knew he was in Los Angeles whilst recording this because he read he was. Guitar players Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar have also testified to the quantity of drugs taken during this period. There aren’t too many outtakes from this period so the run time on disc two is a little short. The cover is an outtake form the Aladdin Sane photo shoot with a Diamond Dogs era Bowie logo added to it.

Disc 1

Future Legend

Diamond Dogs

Panic In Detroit

We Are The Dead

Sweet Thing

Candidate

Sweet Thing (Reprise)

Rebel Rebel

The Jean Genie

Dodo

Big Brother

Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family

Port Of Amsterdam

Growin’ Up

Watch That Man

It’s Hard Toe Be A Saint In The City

Candidate (Demo)

Rock ‘n Roll With Me

Drive-In Saturday

Sorrow

Disc 2

Station To Station

Golden Years

Fascination

TVC 15

Fame

Somebody Up There Likes Me

Can You Hear Me?

Young Americans

Win

Who Can I Be Now?

Wild Is The Wind

It’s Gonna Be Me

Neither of these playlists could be reproduced on Spotify, as they contain songs not available on the platform at this time.